Good video and story. Thanks to the people involved for posting this, and opening themselves up to others. I'm going to focus on the positive. First, the guy who was buried, had the presence of mind at critical moment to get his pole up in the air. Good work. This probably saved his life. The guy with the helmet cam (the point of view in the video) managed to get his skis off, get situated, spot the pole, get out his shovel, and start digging. He probably saved his friend's life. I like that he was in action, moving, thinking, working. It's very easy to be paralyzed in that kind of situation. So there is lots to learn, but not just about what went wrong, also about what went right. Thanks again.

Better to be lucky than good any day. In this case IMO very little went right. Thankfully some things did as Bruno points out. I suspect the one digging with out his gloves had more to do with the slowness than the size of his shovel. Two tiny shovels are better than one tiny shovel. One huge shovel and no gloves with a person unable to act is not a good answer either.

Lot of things to look at here...first the skier survived. Lucky IMO. 2nd is how one might do it better if it were your choice. Starting and most importantly again IMO with knowing/being aware of the conditions and terrain you ski in.

I have no problem with a tiny shovel. But you also need the ability and knowledge to use it well...knowing its limitations.